Jar feeding mechanism



Oct. 16, 1945. H. A. BARNBY ETAL A 2,387,211

JAR FEEDING MECHANISM Filed March 24, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 16,1945. H. A. BARN-BY ETAL 2,387,211

JAR FEEDING MECHANISM Filed March 24, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l y IIIIIIIIII f Patented Oct. 16, 1945 JAR FEEDING MECHANISM Herbert A. Barnby and John Hohl, Toledo, Ohio,

asslgnors to Owens-Illinois corporation of Ohio Glass Company, a

Application March 24, 1943, Serial No. 480,276

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to container feeding mechanism for Jar-filling machines and more particularly to means for continuously supplying containers thereto.

Heretofore it has been customary to package a great majority of food products in tin containers which are not of a frangible nature and which may be handled with little regard for their safety or condition. The use of glass, or other containers of like nature, requires considerably more careful handling to prevent breakage during transportation from the unpacking, point to the filling machine.

Tin containers are normally transported through a chute or enclosed pathway and are moved therethrough by means of opposed parallel friction belts. Special elevating means must be employed for the somewhat heavier glass containers and particularly where the pathway is inclined downwardly, theflow of jars by gravity must be especially controlled. Normally a column of cans may be fed directly into the filling machine without fear of Jamming since the weight of the empty cans may be carried by the feed screw of the machine. In the feeding of glass containers to a filling machine, particularly where the jars are descending by gravity, it is relativel important to support the weight of the column independently of the filling machine, thereby preventing breakage of the jars as they are fed by the feed screw onto the flllingtable.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide means whereby empty jars are released and fed one at a time to the feed screw of the filling machine.

Another object of our invention is the provision of an apparatus for supporting the weight of the jars and releasing them one at a time onto the feed screw or other transfer device or conveyor.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention shown as forming a part 01' a standard flllins machine.

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional elevational view through the Jar releasing mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. "l.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line H of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 5-5 of P18- 2.-

bracket 9 adapted to support a feed screw I 0 and associated mechanism. 'The screw is arranged to move the emp y Jars II or containers upright and in a predetermined spaced relationship and is synchronized with the rotation of the table to maintain a constant flow of .Iars past the filline head (not shown).

Power for driving the screw in is supplied from a machine drive shaft l 2 supported near its outer end by the bracket 9. A gear I! on the shaft l2 meshes with a gear it carried on a shaft II on which the screw III is mounted and by which it is driven.

A jar flow, index, or metering wheel I! for controlling the movement 01 the Jars to the feed screw, is keyed to a shaft II and is supported for rotation about'a horizontal axis in bearings is on a bracket 20. The wheel II is disposed above one end of the screw, with their axes at a right angle to each'other. The bracket 20 is mounted on the aforementioned bracket 8 and also is adapted to support the lower end of a jar conveying chute 20' so that the jars may be delivered directly and continuously in position for indexing. The flow wheel I! is provided with a relatively broad peripheral face into which a series of circumierentially spaced semi-cylindrical depressions 2|, pockets or recesses, is formed. The width of the wheel is slightly less than the length of the Jar it is adapted to handle and the radius of each depression is substantiall equal to or slightly less than that of the jar.

The chute or pathway is composed of a series of parallel bars 22 secured together at intervals to form a hollow rectangular space through which the jars are rolled or moved. One of the bars 22 forming the chute adjacent the wheel I! is removably mounted as indicated at 23 (Fig. 1) to facilitate removal of any Jars which may become broken or jammed in the vicinity of the wheel.

The wheel I! is driven in synchronism with the screw in by means of a chain 25 (Figs. 1 and 4) trained over a sprocket 28 keyed on the shaft l8 and a sprocket 21 carried on a shaft 2| which is supported in a bearing 28 mounted on the bracekt 9. A bevel gear a on the shaft 2|. meshes with a pinion ti on the machine drive shaft l2.

A curved guide member 38 formed of sheet metal is disposed between the wheel I! and the screw ll so that the jarspasslng over the wheel will be delivered in proper position onto the screw. A pivotally mounted jar detent ll forming the forward wall of the guide 33, is yieldably held in engagement with the Jars under the tension of a pair'oi' coil springs 35 (Fig. 5), the tension of which may be regularly controlled by adjusting nuts and rodsf li and 35* respectively. As each jar leaves the confines of the wheel ll, it bears against the detent plate 34 by which it is detained until the following container forces it downwardly and out of contact with'the plate. The plate 34 permits only one jar at a time to drop into the loading position on the feed screw so tliat the first lead of the screw will not have a tendency to jam, or crush, the containers. The rear wall of the guide is curved downwardly and forwardly as at 36 (Fig. 2) to impart a forward rolling motion to the jar.

It will be noted that the empty jars are transportedin a horizontal or recumbent position wherever possible since they are more readily moved by rolling particularly where the flow isdirected downwardly. In the present invention,

it will be further noted that the jars reach the,

feed screw in a horizontal position and are turned through 90 while in contact with the screw. Guide bars 38 are provided to coact with the screw in moving the Jars to upright position.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spiritand scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for delivering cylindrical containers to a filling machine or the like, an inclined guideway down which the containers roll in succession under the influence of gravity, a metering wheel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a segment of its periphery projecting into the guideway near the lower end of the latter, the periphery of the wheel being formed with an annular series of pockets to accommodate the containers and regulably control'movement of the latter along the guideway, said'wheel forming a part of the lower side of the guideway a spring-pressed detent yieldingly supporting the containers one at atime as they move axis and having a segment of its periphery proiecting into the guideway near the lower end of the latter, the periphery of the wheel being formedwith an annular series of pockets to accommodate the containers and regulably control movement of the latter along the guideway, said wheel forming a part of the lower side of the guideway a spring-pressed detent yieldingly supporting the containers one at a time as they move beyond the point of influence of the metering wheel, means for uprighting the containers while moving from a point in proximity to the detent to the filling machine, and a conveyor for transferring containers to the filling machine from the lower end of the guideway incident to uprighting said containers.

3.,In apparatu fordelivering cylindrical containers toaflllingmachineorthelike,aninclined guideway down which the containers roll in mecession under the influence of gravity, a metering beyiind the point of influence of the metering wheel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a segment of its periphery projecting into the guideway near the lower end of the latter,

the periphery of the wheel being formed with an annular series of pockets to accommodate the containers and regulably control movement of the latter along the guideway, said wheel forming a. part of the lower side of the guideway a springpressed detent yieldingly supporting the containers one at a time as they move beyond the point of influence of the metering wheel, means for uprighting the containers while moving from a point in proximity to the detent to the filling machine, a conveyor for transferring containers to the filling machine from the lower end of the guideway incident to uprighting said containers, and means whereby the conveyor and metering wheel are operated in synchronism.

4. In apparatus for delivering cylindrical containers to a filling machine or the like, an inclined guideway down which the containers roll in succession under the influence of gravity, a metering wheel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a segment of its periphery projecting into the guideway near the lower end of the latter, the periphery of the wheel being formed with an annular series of pockets to accommodate the containers and regulably control movement of the latter along the guideway, said wheel forming a part of the lower side of the guideway a spring-pressed detent yieldingly supporting the containers one at a time as they move beyond the point of influence of the metering wheel, means for uprighting the containers while moving from a point in proximity to the detent to the filling machine, and means for regulably controlling the pressure of the detent against the containers.

5. In apparatus for delivering cylindrical containers to a filling machine or the like, an inclined guideway down which the containers roll in succession under the influence of gravity, a metering wheel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a segment of its periphery projecting into the guideway near the lower end of the latter, the periphery of the wheel being formed with an annular series of pockets to accommodate the containers and regulably control movement of the latter along the guideway, a spring-pressed detent yieldingly supporting the containers one at a time as they move beyond the point of influence of the metering wheel, means for uprighting the containers while moving from a point in proximity to the detent to the filling machine, and a conveyor for transferring containers to the filling machine from the lower end of the guideway incident to uprighting said containers, said conveyor including a horizontal rotary screw and means common to the screw and metering wheel for driving them in synchronism.

6. In apparatus for delivering cylindrical containers to a filling machine, an inclined guideway having an open discharge end positioned in proximity to and slightly above said machine, a metering wheel mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and positioned in proximity to the discharge end of the guideway with a segment of its periphery projecting into the latter, the periphery of said wheel having a series of circumferentially spaced recesses each extending parallel to the axis thereof, to accommodate successive containers and regulably control movement thereof in the guideway, a spring-pressed detent at the lower open end of the guideway cooperating with the metering wheel to control movement of containers away from said open end, means for uprighting and transferring containers to the filling machine from a. point in proximity to the discharge end of the guideway, said uprighting and transferring means including a horizontal screw and guide bars positioned to upright HERBERT A. BARNBY. JOHN HOHL. 

